Mark Recchi Selected for Hockey Hall of Fame

Congratulations go out to Mark Recchi for his long-overdue selection to the Hockey Hall of Fame. In two stints as a Flyer, totaling 602 regular season games, Recchi racked up 627 points (232 goals, 395 assists) for a 1.04 points-per-game average. He added 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) in 65 playoff games as a Flyer.

Recchi primarily played right wing during his career in Philadelphia and elsewhere but, after his return in 1999, spent time on left wing and even some short spells at center. He was deceptively strong for a 5-foot-10, 180-pound player and his familiar choppy skating style, described by some as looking like he was "running on skates", belied his quickness and superior offensive instincts.

Although he racked up 577 career goals among his 1,533 points in 1,652 regular season games in the NHL, Recchi was first and foremost a playmaker. He had a knack for threading the needle even in traffic, and could make some of the prettiest saucer passes of any player in the league.

"Recchs" was also a competitor, who was unafraid to battle against larger defenders to get to the scoring areas. He also had a bit of an agitating streak to him. Some opponents accusing him of diving or embellishing marginal penalties.

During his first Flyers stint, Recchi was part of a highly successful trio with rookie future Hockey Hall of Fame center Eric Lindros and left winger Brent Fedyk. Dubbed the "Crazy Eights," the line got its nickname because Recchi wore number 8, Lindros sported 88 and Fedyk was number 18. In 1992-93, Recchi won the first of his three Bobby Clarke Trophies as Flyers team MVP as he set a still-standing Flyers single-season scoring record with 123 points. Recchi earned his second straight 100-plus point season the next year and, during his second tenure in Philadelphia, won the Bobby Clarke Trophy again in 1999-2000 and 2003-04.

The Flyers never reached the Stanley Cup Final in Recchi's time with the team but they came agonizingly close twice, losing 2-1 decisions in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the New Jersey Devils in 2000 and the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2004. Recchi's single biggest individual playoff moment as a Flyer was his triple-overtime game-winning goal against the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals to knot the series at two games apiece. The Flyers eventually won the series in seven games.

Elsewhere, Recchi collected three Stanley Cup rings as a player. As a burgeoning young star, he won the Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1990-91 (he was traded to the Flyers late the next season before the Pens went on to win another championship), the Carolina Hurricanes as a valuable veteran rental in 2005-06, and as a late-career member of the Boston Bruins in 2010-11.

Subsequently, as Pittsburgh's player development coach, he got his fourth and fifth etchings on the Stanley Cup in 2015-16 and 2016-17.